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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Generators
    Posted: 09 Jun 2017 at 1:50pm
Originally posted by Rustler

Originally posted by StephenH

The wattage of the converter will depend on the state of battery charge. The 940 watts would be for a badly discharged battery. It would taper off once the battery was past the bulk charge stage. If it is just doing float charging, then the draw of the converter should be minimal.

Another thing to be aware of is that the converter is not 100% efficient. While it may be putting say 800 watts into a discharged battery, it may be drawing 900+ watts from the AC source. The difference is heat and other inefficiencies in the electronics.
I was noticing that the charge limit is at 55 amps, which pencils out to about 800 watts. Since the total power consumption is 940 watts, that makes the controller only about 85% efficient. Not wonderful in my opinion. I know of many controllers that can operate in the 95% efficient zone, which would put the total power in the 840-850 watt region. That would make about a 100 watt improvement in what you need to run it.
bp
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jun 2017 at 3:43pm
Originally posted by GlueGuy

I was noticing that the charge limit is at 55 amps, which pencils out to about 800 watts. Since the total power consumption is 940 watts, that makes the controller only about 85% efficient. Not wonderful in my opinion. I know of many controllers that can operate in the 95% efficient zone, which would put the total power in the 840-850 watt region. That would make about a 100 watt improvement in what you need to run it.


That's what you get when you go with the lowest bidder. :)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jun 2017 at 5:00pm
Just a comment - I'm with GlueGuy on what the charge circuit does at initial start up, if you have a volt gauge you can watch it operate. It takes it awhile to drop to the maintain level. That's why you have to disable it for some 2Ks to run the AC. It draws a significant amount. By the gauge, if the 120 is disabled, and enabled the charge circuit is at 13.6 volts, with a fully charged battery. In a period of time it drops to 13.1 volts.

I can't argue that a 3K will run the Pod with all amenities, but I can say that a 2K is about the limit of what I can move and lift with sensibility and my 2K will power the Pod with some creative power management.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jun 2017 at 9:45pm
This is a classic charge cycle. I'm very familiar with it, as I've been using solar-power communications sites for a number of years. Below is how it's supposed to look. The charger will go into bulk mode at the beginning (the ramp up). This is when the controller is limited by the amount of current it can deliver. Once the battery is "bulked up", then the controller will go into absorb mode, where it is set to a specific voltage. During this period, the battery will absorb less and less current. Once the controller decides the battery is full, it will drop into float mode, and stay there as long as the power is on.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 1:19pm
Regarding when to start charging the batteries (percent of discharge, I know its posted on the Forum somewhere as I have seen it before.
At what percent of discharge or voltage do I NOT want to go below?

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 1:19pm
Regarding when to start charging the batteries (percent of discharge, I know its posted on the Forum somewhere as I have seen it before.
At what percent of discharge or voltage do I NOT want to go below? I have two 6volt Trojans T105

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 8:04pm
The low point for batteries will vary according to the type, whether it's wet cell, AGM, or so-called "dry". Wet cells generally will tolerate less discharge than an AGM, and I'm not up to speed with the dry types. When the voltage on an AGM battery gets to about 11 volts, I call that 50% discharged, and it's about as low as you want to go. Lower, and you stand to do real damage to the battery.

However, the low point for a given battery should be provided by the manufacturer. Some of the systems I work with have a thing called "LVD", or Low Voltage Disconnect that will automatically disconnect the batteries when you reach that magic discharge point. I've seen some LVD add-on modules that you can add to a system to prevent damaging your batteries.
bp
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 8:36pm
IT SOUNDS LOUD TO MEOuch
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 8:38pm
It sounds loud to meWink
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